Inside The Times

Published: October 24, 2008

International

U.S. MISSILES SAID TO HAVE KILLED

8 Militants in Pakistan Airstrike

The death toll from missiles fired by remotely piloted American aircraft into a Pakistani village near the Afghan border increased to at least eight people, residents and a militant fighter said. But the missiles did not strike a compound in the village belonging to a Taliban operator with strong links to Al Qaeda, who was presumed to be the target of the attack. Page A6

PARAGUAY ISSUES WARNING TO BRAZIL

Recent tensions between Brazil and Paraguay caused by Paraguayan farmers invading Brazilian-controlled farms along the countries' border were heating up as Brazilian troops began exercises in the region. President Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, issued a harsh warning at a news conference, telling Brazil that if his country's territory was threatened, Paraguay would react swiftly. Page A9

A HOLY PLACE IN HOSTILE TERRITORY

Much like ancient pilgrims escorted by knights, groups of devout Jews are loaded onto buses and escorted by Israeli soldiers into Nablus, a city in the West Bank. There, sometimes by the light of cellphones, they recite psalms at what they believe is the tomb of Joseph, the son of Jacob, the biblical patriarch. Though under Palestinian control, the place is holy to Jews, and many still make the trips to worship. Page A5

PALESTINIAN KILLS ISRAELI, 86

A Palestinian man, after being stopped by the police in Jerusalem for a review of his papers, stabbed and wounded an officer, and while trying to escape, killed an 86-year-old Israeli man before being caught by the police, according to the authorities and witnesses. Page A8

AN AUSTRIAN POLITICIAN'S SECRETS

J?Haider, the far-right Austrian politician cultivated an air that was hyper-macho, and he was described by some as a ''right-wing xenophobe.'' The image is becoming harder to maintain after his death on Oct. 11, amid mounting evidence that he was living a double life, drinking at a gay club, and described by his political successor in a radio interview as ''the man of his life.'' Page A9

IRAQI MINISTER'S CONVOY BOMBED

A Shiite government minister's convoy was struck by a suicide bomber in Baghdad morning traffic, above, killing 11 people and wounding 22, but leaving the official unhurt, the Iraqi government and hospital officials said. The attack was the second in four months against a member of the 40-seat cabinet, and a government spokesman said it was the most recent in a chain of attacks directed at ''the development process in Iraq.'' Page A10

National

CALIFORNIA BALLOT MEASURE OFFERS RIGHTS FOR FARM ANIMALS

California is in the throes of an animal rights campaign. There's big money at stake, and Oprah, Ellen and Spider-Man have entered the fray. The presidential candidates? Forget them. On Nov. 4, California voters will give a thumbs up or a thumbs down on Proposition 2, an ambitious bill that would grant animals like chickens, pigs and cows the opportunity to spread their hooves and claws on the farm, rather than being confined in small cages. Essentially, the battle is over eggs. PAGE A12

A CONSTITUENCY OF PRISONERS

Danny R. Young, 53, a backhoe operator for Jones County in eastern Iowa, was elected to the Anamosa City Council with a total of two votes -- both write-ins, from his wife and a neighbor. The Census Bureau says Mr. Young's ward has roughly the same population as the city's other three, about 1,400 people, but that number includes 1,300 inmates at Iowa's largest penitentiary, who can't vote. Only 58 people who live in his ward are nonprisoners. That discrepancy has made Anamosa a symbol for a national campaign to change the way the Census Bureau counts inmates. PAGE A12

POLLS FIND BUSH VOTERS LIKE OBAMA

Senator Barack Obama is showing strength among portions of the political coalition that returned George W. Bush to the White House in 2004, a cross section of support that, if it continues through Election Day, would exceed that of Bill Clinton in 1992, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News polls. In the final phase of the campaign, Mr. Obama led Senator John McCain among voters with incomes greater than $50,000 a year, married women, suburbanites and white Catholics. PAGE A18

WAGE SETTLEMENT IN MASSACHUSETTS

The luxury Canyon Ranch Spa in Lenox, Mass., where patrons pay thousands of dollars for services including facials and tai chi classes, has agreed to pay $14.75 million to hundreds of waiters, massage therapists, yoga instructors, estheticians and other employees who said the spa denied them tips they were owed. The settlement is thought to be one of the largest wage cases in Massachusetts history. PAGE A13

PAPER BALLOT SUIT IN PENNSYLVANIA

Concerned that voting machine breakdowns could cause long lines on Election Day, particularly in minority neighborhoods, several groups filed a lawsuit to force Pennsylvania election officials to provide paper ballots when half the machines in a precinct have failed. The top election official in Pennsylvania has directed poll workers to provide paper ballots to a precinct only when all of its touch-screen voting machines are broken. PAGE A12